An example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-292639, in which a plurality of buffered optical fibers is lined in rows and fusion-spliced at the same time. In this example, first, the buffered optical fibers are arranged at a predetermined pitch in a guiding grooves provided to an optical fiber holder, and are held once a lid has been closed. In this state, a fiber coating is removed, the exposed glass fibers are then cut to a predetermined length, and end surfaces of the fibers are lined up.
With the buffered optical fibers held in the optical fiber holder, the optical fiber holder is then placed in a fusion-splicer. End portions of the optical fibers protruding from an end surface of the holder are then placed in V grooves of a V-groove stage of the fusion-splicer and positioned. The end portions of the optical fibers are lightly held by the V grooves and are aligned by adjusting the position of the V-groove stage in the lateral and vertical directions. Positioning the buffered optical fibers before they are fusion-spliced at the same time is an important operation and influences operation efficiency.
The end surfaces of the optical fibers then face end surfaces of another plurality of similarly prepared buffered optical fibers, and the optical fibers are subjected to arc discharging or are otherwise fusion spliced at the same time. The fused part where the glass fibers are exposed is then reinforced using a reinforcing member. The same method is used to fusion-splice optical fiber ribbons in which a plurality of optical fibers have been aligned in a shared coating and integrated, as well as to fusion-splice an optical fiber ribbon and a plurality of buffered optical fibers.